KAALtv.com

Chinese businesswoman charge in railway graft case

(AP) BEIJING - A businesswoman linked to the corruption case against China’s former railway minister has been charged with bribery and illegal business activities, a state news agency reported Sunday.

Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun received a suspended death sentence in July in China’s highest-profile corruption case in years. He was convicted of taking bribes and steering contracts to associates. A suspended death sentence is usually changed to life in prison.

Businesswoman Ding Shumiao is charged with intervening in bidding for railway projects, the Xinhua News Agency said, citing a statement by the Beijing prosecutor’s office.

The charge of illegal business operation involves activities that totaled 180 billion yuan ($30 billion), Xinhua said. It gave no indication how much of that Ding received or other details of the case.

Liu was best known as the driving force behind China’s bullet train network. The railways ministry is one of the largest entities in the world, with an investment budget last year of 630 billion yuan ($100 billion).